Construction World March 2015

PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS

GEARED FOR GROWTH Tile Africa Contracts, the commercial division of Tile Africa is set to grow substantially over the next five years as it’s expanding its supply and fit offering due to a demand from current and new customers.

The food and beverage sector remains the company’s biggest customer followed by retail. It also services thirteen different auto brands, six financial services customers as well as provincial and private hospitals. The extensive refurbishment to the De Aar hospital has been one of its major projects this year. Highly technical products that are used in manufacturing and processing facili- ties also form part of its product portfolio and expertise. Recent projects include the Parmalat plant for which the company supplied a 18 mm thick tile and the Coca- Cola and Mercedes-Benz plants. Design “Our sister company Johnson Tiles launched its locally manufactured inkjet range earlier this year and it allows us to specify locally produced products in the latest designs to our customers,” says Irvine. Wood-look inkjet tiles are prevalent in the commercial and residential markets as well as inside/outside applications that offer polished, matt and slip-resistant finishes that can be used inside and outside for a homogonous look. Future product offerings include vinyl as well as epoxy resin flooring. Glass mosaics remain popular as a design feature due to the clean finish and colour burst that they offer. Retro prod- ucts such as the Johnson Tiles Nostalgia inkjet range that imitates encaustic designs are doing extremely well and are in high demand. “Inkjet technology presents us with an opportunity to customise designs to clients’ requirements and we’re already offering this service to some of our corporate customers,” he says. Sixty percent of the company’s commer- cial work is in Gauteng, followed by the Western Cape and it’s looking to expand its commercial offering to Zambia and Ghana in the near future.

“Our expertise, national footprint, stra- tegic distribution centres and stock holding in well-placed areas add value to our customers. The expansion of our supply and fit offering will strengthen our position as a leading supplier of tile and flooring solu- tions to the commercial market,” he says.

Its supply and fit offering permits the company to not only source and supply products, but to also install them. “The development

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of our supply and fit offering will allow us to provide a total solutions offering to our customers and this move will give us a competitive edge,” says Craig Irvine, commercial operations executive for the Tile Africa commercial division. The company has close to 30 consult- ants and specifiers servicing clients nation- ally and is procuring additional subcontrac- tors and giving them the necessary training to lay the foundation for growth. “We’re also continuing with cost optimisation practices where we’re reviewing our entire range and buying better,” he says. Tile Africa Contracts has direct access to local manufactured products through its sister companies TAL and Johnson Tiles. “The exchange rate is still an obstacle for us when it comes to importing products from overseas suppliers, but procuring locally manufactured products helps us to remain competitive,” he says. National corporate customers such as Pick n Pay, Spar, Mr Price and Famous Brands continue their relationship with the company and new customers include Pizza Hut and Domino’s Pizza. Recent projects Tile Africa contracts recently supplied and in some cases also fitted 10 100m² of tiles to the Maskam Mall shopping centre in Vredendal, the 7 500m² Mr Price flagship store in Boks- burg and is involved in the refurbishment of the dormitories at the North West Universi- ty’s Potchefstroom campus. It works closely with the in-house designers of its corporate customers. “We marry the product with the concept, keeping in mind the technical aspects of the specifi- cation to make sure that what we supply is aesthetically pleasing and that the product is suited for the project in terms of traffic and durability,” he says.

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Some of Tile Africa Contracts’ recent projects: Coricraft, Pick n Pay and Standard Bank.

CONSTRUCTION WORLD MARCH 2015